THE PLACE OF FOREIGN DRAMATURGY IN AZERBAIJANI THEATER IN THE FIRST YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE (1991-2000)

Abstract

The article discusses foreign dramaturgy included in the repertoire of Azerbaijani theaters between 1991-2000. It is noted that staging works by foreign authors, especially plays performed for the first time, reflected the creative searches of theatrical institutions in the early years of independence and their attempts to integrate into the global theatrical process. The article also conducts a comparative analysis of foreign dramaturgical examples presented in theater repertoires, which helps to define their role in national theater. At the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theatre, a number of foreign dramatic works were staged between 1991 and 2000. Among them were “Three Versions of a Mysterious Murder” (R. Akutagawa), “In Search of Joy” (V. Rozov), “Desire Under the Elms” (E. O’Neill), “King Lear” (W. Shakespeare), “King Oedipus, or Fate” (Sophocles), and others.
The repertoire of the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Young Spectators also included foreign plays such as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” presented to theatre lovers. During the years of independence, newly established theatres also enriched their repertoires with examples of foreign drama. For instance, the State Youth Theatre gave wide space to foreign works such as “Waiting for Godot” (S. Beckett), “The Emigrants” (S. Mrożek), “Hamlet” (W. Shakespeare), “Nero Plays, or the Comedies of the Devil” (M. Hubay), and others. The Baku Chamber Theatre included in its repertoire plays such as “Othello” (W. Shakespeare), “Scapin’s Deceits” (J.-B. Molière), “Czar Fyodor Ioannovich” (G. Gorin), among others. As for the foreign plays successfully staged at the Baku Municipal Theatre, examples include “Medea” (J. Anouilh), “Lonely Women” (A. Nesin), and others.